Meralco averts disaster, ousts Blackwater

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Top seed Meralco showed its mettle and stopped Blackwater’s upset hopes with a 104-96 win in the do-or-die quarterfinal match of the PBA Governors’ Cup Thursday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Bolts, who had their twice-to-beat advantage neutralized after the Elite won the first game, used a strong finish to overcame a double-digit deficit and oust the tough-fighting Blackwater.

After Mike Digregorio cut Meralco’s 99-91 lead to five, 99-94, with a three-pointer at the 3:07 mark, Allen Durham and Jared Dillinger scored five unanswered to give the Bolts a 104-94 lead with 1:29 left in the game.

“My guys showed a lot of heart in this game tonight, we were down at halftime and we had to find direction for the team,” said Bolts head coach Norman Black after his team trailed 52-40 in the first two quarters.

“We couldn’t do anything right offensively or defensively and we were having a hard time defending [Henry] Walker who lit us up in the first half.”

Walker had 27 first half points, 21 in the second period alone, on 7-of-15 shooting but Ranidel De Ocampo managed to clamp down on the Blackwater import in the second half.

With De Ocampo guarding him, Walker just shot 3-of-11 in the second half and that became a welcome reprieve for the Bolts who almost lost import Allen Durham to a sprained right ankle at the 7:05 mark of the fourth.

Blackwater also took an 84-79 lead early in the fourth quarter but Baser Amer and Jared Dillinger teamed up for an 11-0 run to give the Bolts a 90-84 lead with 8:06 left.

Amer led the Bolts with 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting while Durham missed out on a triple-double finish with 18 points, 20 rebounds, and nine assists.

Garvo Lanete and Dillinger lit up from beyond the arc and finished with 17 and 15 points, respectively.

Walker finished with a game-high 34 points with 16 points to lead the Elite while JP Erram added 18 points and nine boards.